Texas senators will put the state’s commercial driver’s licensing system under scrutiny Tuesday after federal regulators found that nearly half of a sample of Texas-issued licenses for foreign-domiciled drivers remained valid beyond the expiration of the drivers’ lawful presence documents.
The Senate Transportation Committee will meet at 9 a.m. in Austin and examine CDL issuance, third-party training and testing, English proficiency and roadside enforcement.
The official notice specifically directs senators to consider unannounced or undercover audits of third-party CDL providers and determine how officers verify licenses and associated documents during roadside inspections.
The hearing comes one week after the Texas House Transportation Committee scrutinized foreign-issued commercial licenses and alleged fraud involving Mexican digital credentials, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. Tuesday’s Senate hearing could provide the hard numbers that were missing from much of that testimony.
Federal audit found licenses outlasted lawful status
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s 2025 audit found what the agency called systemic policy, procedural and programming errors in Texas’ issuance of non-domiciled commercial credentials.
DPS told FMCSA that more than 9,600 drivers held unexpired Texas non-domiciled commercial learner permits or CDLs as of September 2025. FMCSA sampled 123 records for non-domiciled CDLs issued between June 2024 and August 2025 and found 60, about 49%, failed federal requirements.
All 60 involved licenses with expiration dates extending beyond the expiration of the drivers’ lawful-presence documents. Federal regulators found that Texas’ licensing system could default to five- or eight-year CDL terms when lawful-presence information did not populate automatically.
DPS personnel then had to correct the expiration date manually, and FMCSA found personnel failed to complete that process in 56 of the 123 sampled records.
A non-domiciled CDL is a special commercial credential used for certain drivers whose permanent domicile is outside the issuing state, including qualifying foreign workers lawfully present in the United States.
The 49% finding applies only to FMCSA’s sample of non-domiciled records. It does not mean 49% of all Texas CDLs were invalid, fraudulent or held by unsafe drivers.
Texas halted issuance of non-domiciled CDLs and learner permits in September 2025 while DPS identified credentials with incorrect expiration dates. DPS resumed limited issuance on June 1 for H-2A temporary agricultural workers after receiving FMCSA approval.
H-2B temporary non-agricultural workers and E-2 treaty investors remain pending federal approval in Texas.
English rules and foreign credentials return to spotlight
The Senate charge separately directs lawmakers to review English-proficiency standards throughout the CDL program. Texas ended Spanish-language CDL knowledge exams June 1 and now administers all commercial knowledge testing in English without interpreters.
DPS says roadside inspectors also evaluate commercial drivers’ ability to communicate in English and place drivers out of service if they fail the federal standard.
FMCSA reported this month that federal enforcement has placed more than 26,000 commercial drivers out of service nationwide for failing English-proficiency requirements. That is a national figure, not a Texas-specific total.
At last week’s House hearing, DPS Maj. Omar Villarreal described alleged schemes in which people who were not Mexican citizens obtained Mexican digital commercial licenses through contacts in Mexico after sending money.
He also said DPS had observed more crashes involving drivers using those credentials. State Rep. Christina Morales (D-Houston) questioned the focus on Mexican licenses, while trucking representatives said their concern centered on driver qualifications and road safety.
Tuesday’s hearing gives senators an opportunity to establish Texas-specific numbers for suspect foreign credentials, third-party testing violations, English-proficiency out-of-service orders and crashes involving invalid or improperly issued licenses.
Any crash trend will require supporting data before lawmakers can establish a statewide causal relationship.
Provided by Dallas Express
